Happy New Year!

Well, that was a wonderful holiday.

My husband was able to stay at home for almost 2 weeks, and it was glorious. I got nothing done, but had a really great time having him around. I am going to miss him now that he is gone back to work. Boo.

I think I have 2 Advent Activity Days that I didn't post, so I'll do those right away.


New Year's Resolutions. Do you do them? I'm generally not a fan because I have a short attention span. I actually prefer making changes in my life around September. That's always the month that feels like the start of the year. Probably because I have kids, and that is the start of the school year after a long summer of entertaining.

This year, it's actually worked out to have our changes land in the way of the New Year Resolutions. My husband and I kicked exercise butt from September (see? best time to start!) to the beginning of December where I didn't just jump off the bandwagon, but I actually dismantled it into little tiny pieces.

Currently the muscle that I had built and toned is hiding in the shadows due to a fat apocalypse. There's a lot of screaming happening at the midsection.

So of course, after indulging in baked goods, fantastic family gathering meals and deep fried ice cream, getting back on track is a good move. Not because it's New Years, but because I'm fat (again).

The second "New Years Resolution" is getting back onto financial track. Ahhh, another popular one. Actually, my husband threatened to take the reins on this bad boy back in November, but he actually found the time to go through the accounts at the end of his holidays.

The reason for the hostile takeover has nothing to do with me or my abilities, it simply has to do with having a fresh pair of eyes. I budgeted and did the finances in my first marriage, I scrimped and scrounged when I was a single mom, and I've been scratching my way through the last 4 years of our life together. I'm tired, and I'm done. I'm getting sloppy and tired of being the Debbie Downer when it comes to money talk. Also, my husband doesn't see the day to day, so swiping his debit card isn't a big deal for him. That's not his fault, it's just we haven't been on the same page.

He could tell the whole budget and debt thing was weighing on me for the past few months, so he decided to take it off my plate on put it onto his. This, let me tell you, is a very hard thing to release control of. I've always done it, and I know what needs to be paid when. I know what goes into what account, what needs to be transferred by when.

It's a huge thing to give up control in that!

But this is what we are doing. We are also tightening our bootstraps and getting into a better financial position. The banks like us, and our credit rating is high, however I fear the credit cards enjoy our business more than they should.

So my part in the puzzle, is to not look at the whole picture anymore. That isn't my job anymore. If something breaks down, or someone needs something, it's not my job to figure out where the money is going to come from.

My new job is going to be focusing on 2 areas:

1) Groceries
2) Car Gas

My husband is going to give me $400 per month for groceries and $160 for gas. This will be a challenge!

I love to cook GOOD meals. I try to spend smart and I try to plan smart. However, this is going to stretch me to new bounds. Things like finding ways to do things differently like the homemade laundry detergent are going to come in handy (I currently have 3 months supply of detergent downstairs).

We also live about 5 minutes away from town, and 45 minutes away from the city. So going to the city a couple times a week, or even once a week, will have to be cut down. The trip costs about $15 to make, so if I only have $40/week, I'm going to have to get smart about this.

$100/week for groceries for a family of 4? Bring it on. I'll blog my meal plans and my discoveries along the way. I think I'm starting to tackle this one today.